Blade and Broker
by NatsuDankneel
Summary: I teased him about it, but it never really meant anything at the time… I guess he's the reason I feel all warm inside... KiritoXArgo. SAO retold from the beginning.
1. Chapter 1

_Blade and Broker_

 _I teased him about it, but it never really meant anything at the time… I guess he's the reason I feel all warm inside... KiritoXArgo. SAO retold from the beginning._

 **AN: So I always liked this pairing and decided "I should just write one," so here it is. Don't expect it to be too closely like canon, as this is my turn on the SAO story.**

 **Chapter 1- Enter: Beta Test**

"You, along with 9999 other players have been selected to join the Sword Art Online closed beta. The beta test will run for a month. There will be a week intermission where bugs are fixed and exploits are patched before the full game is released. All data will be wiped upon full release."

' _Sword Art Online, huh? Can't believe I actually got in…'_

"Estimated Download Time: 3 Hours."

' _What to do while I wait? Guess I'll check out the wiki. If there is one… Ah, says right here, released by the makers of SAO, so this should be reliable.'_

"Sword Art Online consists of moves called [Sword Skills]. These are predetermined moves, that activate based on the player's input…" Kazuto continued to read the wiki, reading about gameplay.

He learned that if he allocated his skill points correctly, he could be an unstoppable force, and be a major threat. He learned that this game had a basic level and loot system, that displayed the loot on a screen upon death of the mob. He learned that PvP was enabled in most areas, but towns were safe. He learned about NPCs and their usefulness.

He read about the quest system. He read about the loot system. He read about the currency system. He read about the player trading system. He read about the player customization system. He had just finished reading about the combat healing skill, when he was notified that the game had finished downloading and installing.

Switching on his NervGear, he entered in his username and password, before creating a character. Instead of customizing one, he simply let the game randomize a character for him, as he was more interested in getting into the game, rather than his appearance.

"Welcome To Sword Art Online"

He entered the game, and immediately saw some others getting in as well. Using his instincts as an mmorpg player, he realized that people would be all around this place, and that the mobs would be cleaned out.

As he began to run, he felt a tug on his back, as he turned around to see a girl in a cloak. She appeared slightly frightened, but what he didn't see, was the confidence in her. She had this persona to get people to help her.

"Um… Would you mind taking me to the next village with you? I-I'm not really much of a fighter, so I don't think I'm gonna be able to make it there that easily…" She said timidly.

Kazuto wasn't really one to be affected by girls when he was online. He knew that they could always be a guy trying to get easy help. But hell, it's just a beta test. Nothing'll be saved, so there really wasn't a point in leaving people behind.

"Yeah, I guess you can come. Let me just invite you to a team real quick so we can both get Col and XP from any mobs we come across."

Argo was surprised at this. She expected him to just lead her instead of inviting her. She expected him to be stingy, since most mmo players were.

Or at least her experience with them suggested that.

She accepted the group invite, and the two set off for the next town.

They came across a good amount of mobs on their trip, and by the end of it, Kazuto, now dubbed "Kirito," was level 3, while Argo was close to leveling, due to the way XP was distributed. Whoever did the most damage got extra XP, while the rest of the group got the same amount.

"So, Argo, we're here now. If you wanna stay in the party, feel free. If not, I'll be fine if you leave. I just wish you luck if you decide to," He told her

"Hey, how come you know my name?" She asked.

"Check the top left corner or your view. You'll see another name and health bar underneath yours."

She looked and saw his.

"Kirito, huh?"

"Yeah, it's… Well, it's a bit personal if you ask me…"

"Should I assume it's just your name, but sort of shortened?" She asked.

"Is it really that obvious?"

"Well, when you say it's personal, that was the only thing I thought. I've met other people like that, and no, my name isn't my real name shortened."

"Well, are you gonna stay with me? I'm gonna grab some quests and make the best out of this beta test. All our stuff is gonna be gone at the end, so why not?"

"Yeah, I guess I'll stay with you…"

"What's with your innocent personality? I can tell that you're holding something back, but I'm not really sure what…"

"Alright, fine… I expected you to be more attracted considering I have a female character. Based on how you acted, I assume you've played mmorpg's before."

"I don't treat someone differently based on their looks. If they've earned my respect, they'll get it. Never mind that… What're we gonna do? We've got a month for this beta, and I wanna make the most of it."

"Well, the wiki had some stuff on the current quests in the beta. I read that here, we would be able to find a quest for a choice of weapon that's a lot better than anything you can buy from an NPC. Sure, there are mob drops, but it isn't very likely that you'd get something very good."

"Well then, what're we waiting for? Let's get on with it!" Kirito said with a smile as he grabbed the girl's hand and raced towards the inside of the town, where she had marked a place on the map where the quest would be.

 **Last day of the beta test|30 minutes before closing**

"Hey Argo, how's the business holding up?"

"Heh, any question you ask will cost you, ya know?"

"Yeah, I know. I just wanted to check up on an old friend of mine."

She inwardly blushed at his words, but didn't show any uneasiness. "If I knew any better, I'd think you have some sort of crush on me," She teased.

"Well, I might. Those whiskers make you look pretty cute, you know," Kirito countered, though on the inside, he was blushing.

"You like them?" She asked as her hands went up to her cheeks. She had gotten them when her and Kirito had done a quest to get an unarmed skill. Realizing that it really wasn't worth the annoyance, she gave up on it, while Kirito continued.

Of course though, she stuck with him seeing as how it would be information she could sell, if he ever completed the quest.

He did, and when the two of them went back to the quest NPC, Kirito was given the skill, while Argo was given the whiskers for not completing it. She could always go back and finish them to remove them, but she never felt an actual need to do that.

It didn't weigh her down or anything, so why not?

"Well, considering I just said they made you look cute, I think it's safe to assume that I like them,"

She could see the blush coming to his face from flirting, as it wasn't really his forte, so she decided to change the subject to save her friends dignity.

"Well anyway, business is doing well. I've gotten lots of business surprisingly, considering the beta is almost over."

"Yeah, I guess they want to know everything before the beta ends so they can get a head start when the full game is released."

"Eh, that was kind of stupid to ask… They're gonna be giving their Col over like it's nothing because the beta's gonna end soon. They have no real use for it since all data will be wiped."

"Nah you're fine. You're just having genuine concern for a friend, that's all. There isn't anything wrong with that. How's being a solo player working for you?"

"You probably already know my awkwardness in groups, so playing solo has been really relaxing for me. I don't have to worry about talking about drops and stuff with other people. The only real problem with me being solo is that I have no backup whenever my health is low. I end up dying and having to respawn at one of the towns."

"Being an info broker's pretty fun too, you know. Just because I'm not fighting on the front lines doesn't mean I'm not doing anything useful. Me and a lot of other testers have been collecting data on the first few floors to make a book once the full game is released. We plan on distributing it throughout, whenever people join," she said.

"We plan on writing about every useful system from the wiki, dungeons, and the floors themselves to put in the book."

"Really? And here I thought you were just one of the best but most expensive info brokers in the game right now. You charge people for the slightest of things, and your info on special drops are insane."

"A girl's gotta make a living, you know," She grumbled as Kirito laughed.

"You sure are something else… Keep in touch while the one week intermission is happening, alright? You're probably the only person I've met that I can actually trust despite your habit of overpricing things."

"Yeah, I will. Take care Kirito. Although I'm pretty sure you used the avatar randomizer, I'm gonna miss seeing that silly face of yours," she said as a barely noticeable shade of pink, brushed her face.

"Attention players, the Sword Art Online beta test ends in five minutes. If you are not logged out by then, the system will automatically log you out."

"Huh, I guess this is it then. We've gotta wait a week after this ends," Kirito said.

"Well, we'll still be talking, right? By video, voice, or whatever you can access."

"Yeah how about we stick to voice and text. I don't really feel comfortable showing my face just yet."

"Sounds good, Kirito. I'll be logging off now. There really isn't anything left for me to do as of now."

"Alright, I'll see you, Argo. Floor 8, huh? Can't believe we made it there in just one month."

Swiping down, Kirito found the logout button. He took a look around his surroundings, seeing his friend leave, and turned back to also logout.

He opened his eyes, took off the NervGear, checked the time, then went to get something to eat.

 **Time skip, but not really. Just some conversations the two had during the week that the game devs were fixing bugs and such**

Argo: Hey, you good? I just got out of the shower after eating and I was wondering if you're okay. The beta ended half an hour ago and I thought you would've messaged me. - 21:24

Kirito: Sorry about that, I guess I forgot. I was in the shower and that's why it took so long to reply. - 21:36

Argo: Nah, don't sweat it. I get it that you have a life outside of gaming and such. My parents are boring so we don't really do much together. My dad works as a surgeon while my mom is in the police force. - 21:37

Kirito: Do they? Your dad must be really smart then. The medical field isn't easy to get into. Tell your mom I said thank you for keeping the streets safe. I live with my mom and sister, so there is kind of a gap in things that interest us all. My aunt works at a hospital as well. She works in the tech department and does maintenance on all the equipment. 21:39

Argo: So I guess we're sort of alike. I have a sister as well, though she's in college studying engineering. 21:39

Kirito: SAO was pretty fun. I honestly can't wait for the full release. 21:39

Argo: Yeah, I've gotta agree with you on that. I'm probably gonna stick to being an info broker. Though, I'm pretty sure you could teach me a few things about swordplay if you get what I'm talking about. 21:40

Kirito: Argo, please… You know I can't handle things like this so why do you have to do this to me… 21:40

Argo: Whatever do you mean? I'm only suggesting that you know a lot about using your sword and maybe you could teach me a thing or two. - 21:40

Kirito: That isn't what it sounded like when you added the "if you know what I mean," part… - 21:41

Argo: Alright alright, it's fun teasing you. Even though I can't actually see you, you're probably blushing up a storm over there. Just picturing that brings up my mood. - 21:41

…

Argo: I'm going to bed now, it's getting a bit late. It was fun talking to you though. - 22:56

Kirito: Yeah you're right. I'm gonna go to sleep as well. I've got nothing else to do. I also enjoyed our chat. I learned a bit about you. I also never knew it was possible for people to talk in text for over 2 hours. - 22:57

Argo: Yeah, I didn't think so either until just now. I guess conversations are a lot longer when you're talking with a good friend. - 22:57

Kirito: Well then, goodnight, Argo. 22:57

Argo: Goodnight Kirito. I wouldn't mind sleeping in your bed tonight though… - 22:57

Kirito is now offline.

Looking at the notification, Argo couldn't help but snicker at seeing him log off like that. He was most likely blushing his ass off, but if she were to look at a mirror, she would also see herself lightly blushing.

 **Day 5 of 7 before SAO is officially released**

"So I've gotten a lot more info memorized for the beginners guide to SAO," Argo said as she looked at her desktop. On it, were plenty of text files that corresponded to each page of the handbook.

"Have you now? I thought you would've been thinking of other ways to get people to do things for you," Kirito said as he played an FPS to pass time.

"Alright, just because I'm known for overpricing things and trying my best to get money, doesn't mean I actively try to come up with new techniques to do so…" She said as she opened up the same game Kirito was playing. "Hey, I'm getting on right now. Invite me when your game finishes."

"Yeah sure thing. We're winning 15-12 so it shouldn't be too long," he responded.

Argo could hear him talking with his team due to her being in a separate call with him.

"Someone smoke cat and we can try an A split. 3 people with bomb go cat while 2 others go long. I'll take either one." **(Bonus points to anyone who knows what I'm talking about)**

"Alright, guess I'll take bomb cat with blue and purple. Orange and yellow go long then."

"There's one ramp, and goose. I don't think there will be one long since they should have only 2 A, one mid, and 2 B."

"Ah shit, the one on goose has an AWP while the one ramp has an M4. We better hurry this up before the guys from mid and B rotate."

"Guy ramp is down. One CT. One goose. One I think is going mid to cat."

"Long, try to smoke CT if you can. If not, just smoke the cross and come onto site."

"Planting for long, cover me please."

"Someone with AWP go long. I'll stay ramp in case they try anything."

"Shit shit shit, there are 2 on cat."

"I'm dead, AWP watch site and AK watch long doors."

"He smoked and he's probably gonna go for the defuse."

"Nice shot. There were 2 cat though, so watch out for the one that you didn't kill."

"I hear one coming from mid. AK watch for that."

"Alright, no time to defuse. Nice job guys."

"Okay Argo, I'm inviting you now."

"You know, for a solo player, you handle teams pretty well," Argo complimented.

"Well, this is an FPS, so I don't really have to worry about loot drops. Skins and cases are given at random, and even then hey aren't worth that much."

"I'm joining now. Take out Dust. That map is overplayed and quite frankly, I don't like it. Put in Mirage, Inferno, Cache, Cobble, Train, and Nuke."

"Yeah, alright. Woah, when'd you rank up? Same rank as me now, huh?"

"Oh shut up. You know that you aren't that much better than I am. MGE is pretty good, but before they messed with the ranks, I was an LEM believe it or not."

"Alright alright, calm down. I believe you. I can't believe Optic won that tournament though. Cologne 2022 was pretty exciting, since a decent amount of NA teams got in. Last time an NA team even came close to winning was years ago at MLG Columbus 2016. Liquid choked so hard back then."

"Ooo, found a game. Ready up yet?"

"Of course I did… Do you think I'm an idiot?"

 **An hour before SAO is released**

"Guess you really meant it when you said we'd stick to voice and text. To be honest, I never really thought we'd get to voice chat. Thought you were too much of a wuss to do that."

"Yeah and I guess you actually are a girl if any of our conversations have meant anything. I'm pretty sure that moan you do to mess with me can't really be replicated by a guy."

"Why's that? Have you tried it?"

"No! What the hell? I learned from you that it's the only way to be sure if a girl is a girl online. You said it yourself. Voice changers don't have the capability of ma-" he was cut off by a random moan, followed by Argo bursting out in laughter at how he went completely silent.

"Seriously… You need help…" He eventually said, causing her to laugh even harder.

"Alright Kirito, I'm gonna end the call and watch the stream that's paying attention to the game's release time. I'll see you when we get in, alright?"

"Yeah, sure thing, Argo. It's been a fun week with you."

"On today's episode of the MMO stream we'll be covering the internationally famous, Sword Art Online, aka SAO!"

Time passed before Kirito put on his NervGear. He laid down on his bed as he watched the time strike 13:00.

Well, you already know what happens at this point.

 **AN: Oh boy, another new fic… Now you're all probably wondering "when are you gonna work on your other fics". I'll do it when I feel like it. I can't promise anything as I have a life outside of fanfiction writing.**

 **All in all, I have high hopes for this fic, and I think this is gonna be a fic that I actually work on constantly.**

 **Leave reviews or something.**

 **I need a name for Argo.**


	2. Chapter 2

_Blade and Broker_

 _I teased him about it, but it never really meant anything at the time… I guess he's the reason I feel all warm inside... KiritoXArgo. SAO retold from the beginning._

 **AN: I like this fic so I'm writing more. There's just something about Argo that appeals to me, but I don't know what. Eh, it's probably because I like uncommon/unusual pairings, but oh well.**

 **Chapter 2 - Floor 1**

"Players, I wish you the best of luck," the booming voice of Akihiko Kayaba rang throughout the first floor spawn.

' _Argo… I know she'll be fine, but what about Klein? I can probably bring him and maybe his guild if I can teach them quickly enough. I know I played solo in the beta but it might be risky. I'll probably be partied with Argo for a good time while we're…'_

" _Stuck…"_ he whispered. The sudden realization that they were stuck here finally hit him, and everyone around him.

Mass panic broke out, and Kirito quickly grabbed Klein.

"Go find your friends and meet me at the North gate! I'll teach them about sword skills as we travel to the next town. Having a bigger group means we can probably stay alive longer. I'm going to go find a friend as well, so we'll meet back at the exit," he told Klein.

He nodded in understanding, and hoped that his friends had already grouped up. Kirito on the other hand, took off, messaging Argo via PM, to get to the North Gate.

He got there before Klein, and was met with a slightly shaken Argo. She was normally the calm one in any situation, as her occupation trained her to be like that for better deals, so this surprised him.

He did what his instincts told him, and brought her into a small hug, which caused her to stiffen, but she soon broke down in his arms.

"I'm scared, Kirito… This… This game isn't just a game anymore. I know how the NervGear works. You were the one that got me to read about Kayaba. What he said is completely possible," she said through soft sniffles.

"We're gonna be fine, Argo. I heard about the books already. I'm glad you guys have taken it into your hands so quickly to help out the new players. I'm waiting on a guy and some of his friends so we can head out. Strength in numbers, right?" He asked with a grin trying to lighten the mood.

She picked up on this, and followed his lead. "So the mighty solo player is taking a group this time, eh?"

"Well, I'm probably gonna be partied with only you while we're here. Klein has his friends that he's gonna be with, so…"

"Oh, are we? I wonder what we might do with just the two of us partied. Maybe you can help… _comfort_ me in my distressed state," she practically purred.

"You know, I don't recall you being called 'The Cat'. Pretty sure it was 'The Rat'," he said as a small blush brushed his face at the suggestiveness of her words.

Klein (unknowingly) decided to save him by coming in with his friends.

"Yo, Kirito, we've got the whole gang and oh my goodness…" He said before freezing up.

He was soon in front of Argo with his head down in his "desperate mode". And you know what happens when he's like that.

With a slap, he was silenced and nearly knocked down, as Argo and Kirito both looked at each other.

"Okay, in my defense, I didn't know he was like that. But if you get to know the guy, he's pretty cool."

Argo simply rolled her eyes as Klein recovered, and the group decided to set out.

"So like I told Klein, sword skills are basically preset moves. It's all in the guidebook that the beta testers handed out, but I figured I'd just explain it while we're going so we don't have to waste time reading," Kirito told the small group.

"When you have your sword in certain positions and when you feel it, you simply need to put power behind it, and let the system do its job in directing your attack. I'll let you guys try it whenever we meet a mob, which should be soon."

Sure enough, the group came across a pack of wolves. And let's just say that Klein and his friends were quick learners when it was explained to them.

That pack disappeared so quickly…

I almost felt sorry for them.

Almost.

"Man was that quick…" Kirito said with a sweat drop.

"Yeah, you said it…" Argo agreed.

"It'll probably take another 10 minutes to get to the next town. Once we're there, we can either split up, or we can stay together," Kirito told them.

"Well, I'm pretty sure even with your experience, it'll still be dangerous if we leave you two alone, so we'll stick around for a bit."

"Well then let's get a move on, guys! We'll beat this game and then beat Kayaba!"

 **Time Skip 1 Month**

"Guys, I think I found the boss room!" Came the voice of Klein as he came running from a corridor in the dungeon. The game being the way it was, allowed them to hear each other due to being in a party.

They all grouped up, and Klein shared the map data.

"We've gotta report this to all the players, active duty or not. We have to give them hope that we can clear this game and return to the real world," Kirito told the party.

The party rushed out of the dungeon, Argo leading them with her ridiculous agility stat, and they all exited the dungeon, and headed to town.

There, they went around telling others about the boss room location, telling them to share the map data with others to get this across to all the current cleaners.

It wasn't long before it was spread out to nearly everyone in the current town, and 3 people were sent to the town of beginnings to inform anyone there.

Kirito's party regrouped, and to celebrate the success of finding the boss room, they all went out to eat.

Everyone agreed to pay for what they ordered seeing as how it was only fair, and the group of 8 **(following the anime in terms of amount of members in Klein's guild)** ate well.

As they exited, they were met with a guy that informed them that there was going to be a strategy meeting the following day, at 11:00.

 **The Next Day|Strategy Meeting**

"So, as you may or may not know, my name is Diabel. From what I've heard, someone here by the name of Klein has found the boss room, and he and a group of 7 others, distributed the map information to the rest of the players to give hope to everyone. Klein, if you're here, can you please come up and give a word of courage for everyone here?"

Klein got out of his seat as his party wished him luck up there, and walked down.

"So, as you may all know, we're stuck here. People still in the town of beginnings need to learn that we _can_ clear this game. In our month here, I've met some wonderful people that gave me hope. Instead of worrying about the real world, take in all the joy and excitement from the current world. The virtual world. Look forward to the next day in here, instead of moping around. What good does it when you sit around doing nothing? All that does is lessen the chances of getting out of this world. Now how about we all put in our best efforts, increase team chemistry and charisma, and beat this floor's boss!"

His speech was met with cheers from everyone.

Kirito and the rest of the group all smiled while cheering for their friend.

He wasn't a guildmaster for nothing.

Being a guildmaster wasn't an easy task. You had to be encouraging. You had to be strong, not as much physically, but more emotionally. You had to be influential. You had to be caring. Compassionate. Klein, despite his "desperate mode," filled the criteria for an ideal guildmaster, and leader.

He was heading up back to his group, when a seemingly middle aged man came down and introduced himself as Kibaou. He claimed that the beta testers were selfish, and that they should hand over their items.

He was silenced when a man much taller than him, with a warhammer strapped to his back asked for permission to a speak.

He introduced himself as "Agil" and mentioned the book (which Argo secretly took pride in) and told everyone there that the information was available for free, and it was made and given out by the beta testers.

He said that Kibaou had no good reason to blame the beta testers, since the information was available to anyone.

Diabel took back control after Agil went to sit, and told everyone to pair up into groups. Most already had groups, but Kirito noticed a cloaked person sitting by themselves. He walked up to her with Argo by his side, and Kirito talked to her.

"You need anyone to party with? I've got a group going and we could use another player."

The cloaked person simply nodded without saying a word.

Kirito sent them a party invite, and she tapped the blue circle that appeared in the invite menu.

"If you'd like, you could come with us to one of the towns. We plan on going out to eat later this evening because of the boss raid tomorrow."

She once again only nodded without offering a word.

"If you aren't gonna talk to us we won't get very far, you know that, Asuna?" Argo cut in.

"Y-you know my name…"

"Yeah, look at your health bar. It shows the party players' names there," she told her. A feeling of déjà vu hit her as she realized that this sort of thing happened with her and Kirito in the beta.

"Argo and Kirito? And the others?"

"Well, we've got Klein, Dale, Dynamm, Harry One, Issin, and Kunimittz. They're apart of Klein's guild called Fuurinkazan."

"So what'll we do while we wait for the evening?" Asuna asked.

"Well, we plan on checking up on our gear, and maybe getting our stars up a bit. Maybe some friendly spars," Klein told her as he walked up from behind Kirito, the rest of the Fuurinkazan behind him.

"We'll all be looking forward to working with you in this next boss raid," Klein said with an outstretched hand.

She shook it, then stood up.

"Alright guys, how about we hit the road? I heard the third town has some nice restaurants along with some nice scenic places where we can up our stats by sparring. It's a safe zone, so we don't have to worry about monsters or anything of the sort," Klein said.

 **Third Town|Western Field|Safe Zone**

 **Warning: boring gear section. Skip to next bold if not interested.**

[Kirito]

Main Hand: Crescent Moon Sword

Off Hand: None

Helmet: None

Shoulders: Stealth Hunter's Shoulderpads

Chest: Stealth Hunter's Coat

Arms: Stealth Hunter's Gloves

Legs: Stealth Hunter's Trousers

Feet: Stealth Hunter's Boots

4/6 Set Bonus - Player gains 3% increased crit chance

[Argo]

Main Hand: Dark Light Katar

Off Hand: Dark Light Katar

Helmet: Cloud Shadow Hood

Shoulders: Cloud Shadow Pauldrons

Chest: Cloud Shadow Robe

Arms: Cloud Shadow Bracers

Legs: Cloud Shadow Skirt

Feet: Cloud Shadow Boots

6/6 Set Bonus - Player gains 4% increased agility stat and 6% stealth stat

[Klein]

Main Hand: Moonlit Night Sword

Off Hand: N/A

Helmet: Nons

Shoulders: Darkcrystal Shoulderpads

Chest: Darkcrystal Breastplate

Arms: Darkcrystal Handguard

Legs: Darkcrystal Legguards

Feet: Darkcrystal Boots

4/6 Set Bonus - Player gains 5% increased haste

[Asuna]

Main Hand: Rapier of Songs

Off Hand: None

Helmet: Dark Strupe Hood

Shoulders: Dark Stripe Pauldrons

Chest: Dark Stripe Robe

Arms: Dark Stripe Bracers

Legs: Dark Stripe Skirt

Feet: Dark Stripe Boots

6/6 Set Bonus - Player gains 4% increased haste and 3% agility

 **Skipping other Fuurinkazan members as you most likely won't be wondering about them. Also, bonus points to anyone who knows what game some of this gear is from.**

"Klein vs. Kirito, huh?" Asuna said as she walked up to Argo after checking her gear.

"Yeah, it's gonna be quite the fight considering the two's battle style are very different. Kirito likes to play high risk high reward while Klein's is more of a wild defense/offense if you get what I mean."

To the fighters' surprise, the spar lasted a good 5 minutes before Kirito was able to get a good slice into Klein, only due to the fact that he screwed up his blocking rhythm.

"Man, Kirito, that was a good fight. We were pretty even there," he said as he gave Kirito a high five.

"Yeah I've got to agree with you on that. I kind of expected it to last less considering I have a lot more experience in this game."

Everyone else sparred. Asuna vs. Argo, which ended in a tie after the clock ticked down to 0 from 10 minutes without a single good hit.

Dale vs. Dynamm, with Dale winning due to his good defense and decent swordplay.

Harey One vs. Issin, with Issin winning due to his lighter armor.

Kunimittz vs. Klein due to the odd number of people. Klein won when Kunimittz failed to block or parry his attack.

It was 19:00 (7:00 PM) when they went into town to eat.

Asuna was shy about everything, but everyone could tell she was slowly opening up to everyone.

Argo was her less business oriented side. In other words, cheerful, teasing, and caring.

Kirito was his normal clueless self.

Klein was less desperate, and more, "enjoy the time".

The rest of Fuurinkazan was… Well, Fuurinkazan.

A bunch of somehow happy guys that are all friendly with pretty much everyone.

Their total came out to be 1430 Col altogether, but Kirito opted to pay for everyone's food.

What a guy.

 **The Next Day|Dungeon|Palace of the Kobold Lord|Danger Zone**

The players cautiously walked in as the doors opened, Diabel leading them.

They soon saw the boss, and the room lit up a plethora of colors as the boss' adds spawned.

Kirito worked with Argo and Asuna. He would stagger the enemy, then Argo along with Asuna would move in to take it out. The two together would be able to kill the add in one quick motion.

The main teams would do what they needed to do to get the boss' health down. Only when it pulled out an Odachi did things go wrong. Diabel rushed the boss without any support, only for the boss to jump around before slamming the ground, sending him flying.

Kirito rushed over to him. He quickly pieced together everything and came to the conclusion that he was a beta tester. Forcing him to drink a health potion so he didn't die, Diabel fell unconscious. Kirito laid him down before heading after the boss with Argo, Asuna, and the Fuurinkazan.

 **You know what happens about now. Skipping to when the boss dies.**

[Last attack bonus! Coat of Midnight obtained.]

Everyone cheered as the pop up saying "Floor Cleared!" Came into view. People began communicating with others, and people congratulated Kirito on defeating the boss.

Kirito on the other hand, walked over to a certain troublemaker known as Kibaou.

"Hey buddy, you may think you're all this bad stuff, but if you just try to fix your attitude, this world could use you. You have potential. I can see that. Just fix your possessive attitude and this world might just seem fit for you," he said as he equipped the Coat of Midnight.

He walked up the steps to the floor 2 entrance before turning around.

"I'd like to thank everyone here for their amazing work. You all did well today, and I wish you the best of luck in staying alive. We can beat this game. I hope to see you on the front lines again someday. Grow stronger, everyone, and live to see the real world and your loved ones, once again!"

Everyone broke out into cheers.

Kirito's Party **(this includes Klein and shit)** followed him up the stairs as he went to go activate the floor 2 teleporter. In doing so, he also activated a corridor crystal to floor 2, so that anyone in the dungeon didn't have to waste a teleport crystal to get there.

Pretty convenient, eh?

He looked at his party members who nodded at him, and they all walked through the corridor crystal together.

 **AN: I'm going to regret this. I plan on making this story at least 101 chapters of 3k average words. I'm so going to regret this. I want to do what the anime failed to do, and that was give the audience less time skips, more action, more romance, and more friendship.**

 **I wanted to keep Diabel alive. Why? Because he's fucking stupid for refusing Kirito's health potion in the first place, so I had him force fed.**

 **The whole moonlit black cats fiasco isn't going to happen, because that part annoyed me. Neither is the whole "safe zone pk" thing. That also annoyed me.**

 **This fic is going to be strictly KiritoXArgo. No harems which is surprising if you've ever read my other stories (subtle yet shameless self promotion).**

 **I'm honestly having fun writing this, but my hands aren't. I might need some ideas for the following 99 floors, as they aren't shown in the anime.**

 **This is going to be hell for me, my phone, my google drive storage space, and FanFiction's file storage.**

 **Eh oh well. That's what happens when you do something you want to do.**

 **Side note: I'm an author as a hobby. I don't do this for payment, so don't expect me to give out deadlines for when fics are going to be updated and such.**


	3. Chapter 3

_Blade and Broker_

 _I teased him about it, but it never really meant anything at the time… I guess he's the reason I feel all warm inside... KiritoXArgo. SAO retold from the beginning._

 **AN: So I fucked up the number of beta testers as I can see after rereading. Whoops. This chapter is being made before any reviews have been made, so don't expect any of your suggestions to be answered here.**

 **Thanks to one of my readers (who I'll put in the next chapter if he or she wants me to), I ended up reading another fic and I'm making Kirito OP (because he already isn't op in the anime [insert sarcasm]), for the sake of my terrible fight scenes, comedy, and probably because I'm lazy. You may as well drop the fic now if you don't like OP Kirito. Actually no don't. Actually no, it's up to you.**

 **The fic was One Punch-Gamer by SaintInfernalNeos and it's a KiritoXHarem fic. As the name suggests, it's a crossover, but it only has elements and references of OPM.**

 **Chapter 3 - Floor 2**

Argo woke up to what felt like cloth on her lips. She opened her eyes to see a black shirt.

She soon realized what was happening.

In an attempt to save at least some money, they had rented a room with only two beds. Asuna got one, while Kirito and her would share one since they thought it wouldn't be awkward considering they knew each other as best friends.

Keyword: "thought"

Argo was blushing like mad in their current position.

Turns out both of them aren't steady sleepers, so they turn in their sleep.

And by the power of me being the author, I made them somehow face each other, with Kirito's arms around her, and her head under his chin.

Luckily though, she had a high enough stealth stat to not wake him up with her slight movement and his decent-for-his-level detection skill.

Making the best of the situation (in her eyes at least) by trying to fall asleep again. She soon found what she was looking for, and fell into the bliss state of unconsciousness.

When she woke again, Kirito was sitting up, unknowingly running his fingers through her hair as he stared into space, presumably thinking.

She tried her best to stay quiet and unnoticed, but found it becoming increasingly difficult. To her surprise, she began to… purr? Well, it wasn't exactly a purr, but it somewhat resembled it. She also found herself moving towards his hand.

And somehow he was completely oblivious to her movements and sound.

She soon snapped out of it, and got up, causing Kirito to finally notice that she was awake.

"Oh, hey, you're up! Asuna left to get some food for us, because I didn't want to wake you up. Today, how about we go grind to get our level up? Klein's guild decided to part for now, saying that they'll be training for a while."

"So, me, you, and Asuna are gonna go train today?"

"No, Asuna plans on finding a separate group to train with. No idea why. She said something along the lines with 'time together' or something like that."

' _So she wants me to spend time with him alone?'_

"So we're gonna be grinding alone, eh? What might we be _grinding_ , Kirito?" She asked with an innocent look.

"Argo…"

"What?"

"Stop."

"Stop what? I only asked what we're grinding while we're _alone together_."

"Argo I swear."

"What're you gonna do, Kirito? _Punish_ me?"

"Argo I'm being serious."

"And so am I," she said with a sultry grin before breaking down in a fit of laughter. "Man, you're so fun to tease. I don't understand why you still hang around me."

"Argo, you know I wouldn't abandon you just because you teased me. You're probably the only person I'd trust in a life or death situation. You mean a lot more to me than you might realize. If all I have to do is put up with your teasing, I'll do it to keep our friendship."

"Hey, Kirito. Would you mind stroking my hair like you were doing this morning?" Argo asked as she laid back down.

"I was what?"

"I knew you were deep in thought, but I didn't think you didn't realize you were running your fingers through my hair… What were you thinking about anyway?"

"Oh, it was nothing really. Just the realization that we're stuck in a virtual world until we beat it… It's weird really, because we've never actually met, yet I feel some connection between us. You look good like this, Argo. It isn't much of a change from your beta look, but I like the real you a lot more," he said as he went back to playing with her hair.

"Yeah, I've got to admit, I like the real you over your beta look. And yeah, I spent a good amount of time making my character during the beta. I decided to keep the whiskers from that quest too," she said as she melted into his arms.

' _I've only known him for a bit over a month and I'm already falling for this idiot…'_ Argo thought to herself.

Asuna walked in on what looked like an intimate moment, so she quickly set their food down before exiting, saying that she was gonna go look for people to train with and that she already ate.

"Huh, that was odd. You think she'll find anyone soon?"

' _Man, he is so oblivious…'_

"Yeah, she'll probably find some trustworthy people to train with. I'd assume that she'll join one of the top guilds. She's got potential. She just needs the right people to help her harness that potential, and put it to good use."

"I'm glad we found her when we did. Who knows what might've happened to her had we not partied…"

"Let's not worry about that and instead, look to the future," Argo said as she got up to eat. "Come on. The food won't come to you, ya know."

What they opened the box to, were… Homemade sandwiches…

"That girl… She actually put points into cooking…" Argo said as she took out one of the sandwiches to give to Kirito. She then took one out for herself and the two had breakfast while discussing their plans for the day.

 **Later That Day|20:57**

[Kirito] Level 18

[Argo] Level 15

"Man, how the hell do you have 3 levels over me?" Argo asked with a pout.

"Oh come on, you know that I did more work than you. The system gives more XP to the person that does more damage. Even if it's slight, it piles up overtime. Come on, let's get back to the inn. It's getting dark."

"Yeah… You never know what might happen in the dark," Argo said before getting an idea. "Especially at the inn…" She said in a teasing manner.

"Oh shut up and let's just get back. It's getting dark. Bad things tend to lurk in the dark."

"Kirito, I'm gonna go into town tomorrow. Maybe get some col for info. I still know a decent amount from the beta, you know."

"Still sticking with the info broker job then?"

"Well what else would I do? I'm not much of a fighter, but I can hold my own. Besides, I wasn't the best info broker during the beta for nothing. You know me, Kirito. We'll have enough col to do whatever we want by the time we get to the 20th floor."

"You give info brokers a bad name, you know that?"

"Nah, the other ones probably do this too, just not to my extent. It's not my fault that I'm just naturally better at gathering info about the game."

"Whatever you say, Argo…"

The two walked on until they made it to their inn, with no interruption or any oddities.

"Argo, I'm going in the shower first."

"Yeah yeah you do that."

There really wasn't a point in showering in SAO, as you didn't actually get dirty, so it was more of a novelty.

If you wanted to shower you could.

Argo being the type of person she was began formulating a plan that she would never do in real life(until the future that is), but considering it was a game, she'd let it slide.

Now, Kirito expected peace and quiet (minus the water), while he was in the shower.

What he got minutes after he was in it, were what felt like arms around his abdomen, and a girl with her chest against his back.

Let's just say he might've fallen unconscious and leave it there.

And by that I mean he fainted from shock and embarrassment, so Argo had to drag the poor kid out of the shower, manipulate his hand to put on clothes, and try to not pass out from the embarrassment herself.

When Kirito woke, he was met with the feeling of hair under his chin as he realized that he was in a bed with Argo.

Despite them having two beds, she chose to sleep next to him. Her reasoning to herself was that it was just to be safe and that he was warm.

But people can't get into their inn room without permission so she was pretty much just convincing herself that it was perfectly normal.

Kirito soon remembered why he was in the bed (more of our together the pieces), and was soon a blushing mess.

Argo had some nerve to go into the shower with him. Her generous amount of… "stuff" making him feel everything a hormonal teen wanted to feel.

And let's just say both of them were incredibly embarrassed by it, even though it was Argo's idea to do it. Kirito was just the victim of her "friendly prank".

She liked seeing the boy flustered. It gave her reason to continue on. It gave her motivation to make the best out of every situation. It made her feel happy. The fact that he was getting flustered over _her_ , made her happy.

She didn't realize it, but the emotion was nothing but love. She wouldn't realize this for a while. Neither would Kirito.

He knew she was asleep, but he said it anyway.

"Goodnight, Argo."

He didn't notice it at first, but looking back to this night, he would've felt something change with him.

A good change.

A powerful change.

No like, literally powerful.

A hidden buff titled "Mark of the savior" graced him, and he would be given increased XP gain rate, higher gear drop chance, and a stat boost. Not to mention a "special buff" against bosses.

 **The Next Day|Floor 2 Dungeon|11:36**

"Alright, I'm not even kidding now, how the fuck are you leveling so quickly?" Argo asked the now level 24 black clad boy. She was only at level 19 when he hit it ( **( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°))**.

"You know, I honestly don't know anymore. We've been here for 3 hours and I've gained 6 levels… I really don't think it's got to do with the slight amount of extra XP you get when you do more damage. Eh, who cares. It makes clearing the game easier."

"So we're about a sixth the way into the dungeon… man this is gonna take foreverrrrr…" Argo whined like a child adding to her cuteness. "And I have to get into town at like, 14:00 to sell some guy some information on some quests for some A rank food. Pretty desperate if you ask me. It's just food."

"Should I assume you're gonna make him pay about five times the actual cost?"

"Oh you know me too well…"

"Argo I swear… Your 'bargaining' as you call it, is gonna get you in trouble one of these days," Kirito said with a facepalm.

"Nah, I'm probably going to just stay in safe zones during my deals. Nothing can go wrong in a safe zone. I think."

"Well, I hope nothing goes wrong with your deal today, Argo. I don't want anything happening to you. You're my friend, and I don't want you getting hurt or harassed. Tell me if you need help and I'll be there."

"Thanks Kirito… It means a lot…" She said as a blood rushed to her cheeks. The ground was looking pretty interesting.

"Now come on. We've got more time to explore the place and maybe find the boss room," Kirito said as he grabbed Argo's hand, and the two walked further into the dungeon. The sudden contact also caused Argo's blush to grow.

What she didn't realize from the sudden connection, was a hidden buff applied to her. "Gift of the Savior" allowed her XP gain to be increased, and gave her a slightly better chance to get gear.

"This new sword is pretty cool if you ask me," Kirito said as he looked at the weapon in his hand. It was a unique drop from a mob. "Elemental Fury" was a blue and green, semi transparent sword. As the name suggested, it was an elemental sword. The element associated with the sword, was fire, which left a nice DOT (damage over time) effect on any mob it hit.

The two explored the dungeon, facing mobs that were extremely easy considering Kirito's insanely high level for the time, and the fact that there were two people. They came across a mini boss before a set of doors which they assumed were the doors to the boss room, and to both of their surprise, one slice from Kirito utterly demolished the thing.

[You Obtained]

24 Col

37 XP

Claws of the Damned

"Oh, Argo, new claws for you!" Kirito said, quickly opening a trade to her without even looking at the stats, and ignoring the fact that he was getting reduced XP due to his high level.

She accepted the trade and when she inspected the claws, she was… Well to put it lightly, surprised.

"W-w-what the hell!? These claws have 126 attack! I mean, your sword has 213, but that's understandable considering your level. They also cast a weakness and slowness effect on any mob it hits… And there's the boss room…"

"And right on time, too. It's 13:50. We should have time to teleport out and get you to wherever your deal is. Not sure why the guy would pay for a quest for some food. He must be pretty hungry, or he's only eaten those cardboard bread rolls since the beginning."

"No use complaining, really. It isn't us losing the money on something as silly as a quest to get some food. Come on. Let's get out of here."

The two used teleport crystals to get back to floor two's spawn, and Argo realized that she didn't need to be very far for the deal. The guy had said to meet him near the fountain south of floor two spawn. How convenient.

"Alright, Argo, you get on with that deal, and I'm gonna spread the news and map data about the boss room. Good luck!" He yelled to her as he ran off.

Word got around fairly quickly, and within 30 minutes, the entirety of floor 2 knew of the boss' location. It would take another 30 minutes to get the info down to floor 1, and spread throughout.

When Kirito went back to spawn, he was met with Argo with a very wide smile.

He mentally facepalmed before asking her how much the guy was willing to pay for the information.

"How does 5k Col sound?"

"What the hell? 5k Col just to get details on a quest?"

"He said it himself. The cardboard bread tastes awful and he can't stand it anymore. Looks like you were right. It also looks like you were quick when it comes to spreading info. I just hope you aren't that quick when it comes to other activities," she said with a wink.

Kirito just facepalmed with a blush.

"I've said this before… You need help…"

"Ah you'll get used to it some day, Kirito. You better hope it's soon if we continue partying like this, because I'm not gonna stop."

"Alright I get it…"

A fellow clearer came up to the two to spread the news of the boss meeting that was going to be held the following day.

"Same time as normal, but it's gonna be at that park east of here (spawn)."

The two nodded, and the girl moved on to tell another group of people.

"It's only 14:45. What do you wanna do for the rest of the day?"

"How about you?" She asked sultrily before laughing it off. "Nah but seriously, there isn't much to do while we wait for the boss meeting. We could just go back to the inn and relax and talk with each other."

"Well, as long as it isn't your teasing talk, I guess there's no harm in that. And before you say there's no harm in what you tend to do, I'm pretty sure it damages my mental health."

"Awwww, don't be so rude…" Argo said with a pout.

"You know it's true."

"So?"

"Let's just head back before people get the wrong idea…"

 **At The Inn|17:57**

"Can you actually believe it, Argo? Here we are, stuck in a virtual world… Outside, our families must be freaking out. Sure, I wasn't very close to my sister, but still… I feel bad leaving them like that…"

"Hey, don't talk like it was your choice that we're stuck here. I promise you, Kirito, we will get out of this place alive. Both of us. We'll both see our sisters again. As much as it might not seem, I'm actually terrified. I'm scared of dying. But you, Kirito. You're the reason I keep going. You give me motivation to try my hardest to be able to see my family again. If it weren't for you, I don't know what I might be…" She said as she laid her head down on his shoulder.

"I'm scared, but for my family, for you, for everyone… I'll stay strong. I have to."

"We'll get through this. I know we can."

"How about we PM Asuna and Klein and see if they want to get some food? It's getting kind of late."

"Yeah, we haven't talked to Klein in a while, and Asuna's been training, so I'm sure she'll be happy to go out with us."

 **Some Sort of Fancy Restaurant|18:47**

' _Kirito and Argo are pretty close… I wonder what happened while I was away?'_ Thought the rapier wielder as she finished her meal of ginger scallion chicken stir fry. It tasted heavenly.

"You guys ready for the boss raid in two days? What level are you?"

They all showed their menus to each other.

[Kirito] Level 26

[Argo] Level 20

[Asuna] Level 15

[Klein] Level 16

[Fuurinkazan Members] Levels 14-16

"How the hell are you guys in the twenties?! Nevermind that, how is Kirito level 26?!" Klein asked with shock in his voice.

"You know, that's a great question. We're not really sure ourselves, but we don't plan on questioning it. If it helps us get through the game quicker, why not let it be?"

"Yeah, you've got a point there… I kind of wonder what happened to my pizza. You know how I was telling you about ordering one?"

"Eh, the pizza guy probably just went back after you didn't answer. Either that, or they let themselves in, and then found you. They probably got the news reports **(let's make it so Klein ordered his pizza about 10 minutes after he planned to get out, so there was enough time for news to circulate)** about the how we're trapped here, and how the NervGear kills you if you die or if someone tries to pull the damn thing off. My guess is that they saved you from dying in the real world, however morbid that sounds."

"Yeah, you might be right… I've gotta find them and thank them when we get out of here."

"Alright, well guys, tonight has been fun, but Argo and I are gonna head back to the inn to get some sleep. We've got that strategy meeting tomorrow," Kirito said as he picked up the half asleep girl, and held her as if giving her a piggyback ride.

He walked back calmly as not to wake her, and he eventually made it to the inn. Checking the time, he could see that it was 19:36.

' _Guess walking took a lot more time than I thought… Well, we did take the scenic route, so I'm not surprised. This world is surprisingly beautiful despite it being a death trap…'_

He carefully and gently laid the girl down before climbing into bed beside her. He put an arm around her, and pulled her closer.

He couldn't help but feel some sort of connection with the girl. Something he couldn't explain.

Closing his eyes, he soon fell asleep.

 **December, 3rd, 2022 (the next day but I'm getting tired of saying that)**

"The boss' name is Alr-Rahjil. It's a demon type boss, and as such, uses flame based attacks. It's first attack casts a small AoE effect that slows and damages. Try to stay out of them. The next attack is a random select, life drain attack that gives the boss health. The third attack is a random select DoT effect. Pay attention to your health at all times, and do whatever it takes to stay alive. The last and most powerful attack is a medium sized AoE effect. It's casted when the boss hits the red zone on its last bar out of five. During this time, everyone needs to hit the boss with everything they've got, and any tanks need to have their shields up and use any ability to strengthen themselves. Any questions?"

"What level is everyone here? I'd like to minimize casualties by having the higher level players prioritize tanking."

A mixture of 12's through 16's went by, only for everyone to be silenced by "26" and "20".

"How the hell did you get that high up?"

"Don't know, don't care. All I know is that this is going to make beating the game a lot easier. Everyone make sure you have a tank in your party. When we hit the last phase of the boss, I want you guys near tanks at all times just in case something goes wrong. The first boss had a different sword than in the beta. Fight well people, and live to see the next day." Kirito said as he got up to leave with Argo by his side.

 **December, 4th, 2022|10:45**

"As Kirito said yesterday. Fight well people. I expect to see you all at the end of this fight."

The blue haired leader pushed open the door and the clearers filed in.

What they noticed as lights went on making the room look like hell, was a red slightly humanoid creature in the middle of the room.

"Tanks, push up!"

"Block the first swipe from the boss, and teams A and B charge in and try to get a hit off."

It just so happened that teams A and B were Klein's group, and Kirito's group. The Fuurinkazan were first, using their weapons to slice away health from the boss. Kirito, Argo, and Asuna were next.

Asuna and Argo tried their best, slicing the damn thing to oblivion, but when Kirito smacked it, the flat of his blade hitting the boss by accident, it went flying into the wall, and lost two whole bars of health.

"What the hell…" Everyone, even the boss, was momentarily surprised and shocked at what had just happened.

Realizing that they were still in a dungeon, they decided that they needed finish this up quickly, and because of Kirito, it would be over fast.

They did the same thing, this time letting the other teams get hits on the boss, only to let Kirito take the last shot, slamming the thing into the ground, shattering a part of it.

[Congratulations! Floor 2 Cleared]

Everyone was still shocked at the display Kirito made.

"That was something else…" Klein said as he sheathed his blade.

Nothing could describe the amount of shock in everyone right now. Quite frankly, they didn't care. As long as they could get out of here, they wouldn't have a problem with it.

Activating the corridor crystal and teleporting to the next floor, they were glad to see that the floor was nice and sunny. It gave off a nice vibe, and it let them feel more positive.

You could never have too much positivity.

 **AN: Ayy, so I kind of went out all day yesterday so I didn't have time to write…**

 **I'm also running out of things to put in chapters…**

 **Like shit… I really don't know what to put into these. I'll try though.**

 **The Black Keys are a great band.**

 **You should like, check them out or something.**

 **And I still don't have a real name for Argo.**

 **Huh.**


	4. Chapter 4

_Blade and Broker_

 _I teased him about it, but it never really meant anything at the time… I guess he's the reason I feel all warm inside... KiritoXArgo. SAO retold from the beginning._

 **AN: Chapter four… Something I never thought I'd come to this quickly… If you've read any of my other(awful, looking back at them) stories, you'd know that almost none of my fics have a fourth chapter… My explanation is simple. I run out of ideas quickly. I'm a story starter. I can't always finish something the way I want due to my lack of imagination.**

 **Now, before this chapter starts, I'd like to thank FlawlessMirage for his/her review. Constructive criticism is something I need, as I'm honestly an awful author. There's no point in denying it. Compared to a lot of authors on this site, I'm not very good. Constructive criticism allows me to improve upon my writing, and appease the audience.**

 **Now, it's 2:39 in the morning and I should be asleep, but I'm doing this because I felt the need to.**

 **The AN, I mean.**

 **Chapter 4 - Floor 3**

 **Floor 3|Outer Forest|December 6th, 2022**

"Kiritoooooooo… This is boring." Argo whined as the two walked. They were headed towards the untouched dungeon of the third floor.

Well, they were trying to find it, really.

"There's no need to act like a child, Argo," Kirito said as if he were a parent. This had been going on for hours as the two wandered around floor three in search of the one structure that allowed them to move up a floor, making their chance of escape, higher.

"But we've been walking for the past three hours and the only thing we've come across are some weak mobs!" She yelled half heartedly before crossing her arms over her chest, giving a "hmph" as if she really were a small child throwing a tantrum.

Kirito chuckled at the girl's actions before pulling her close, his hand on her waist as the two walked on.

"Now aren't you bold all of a sudden…" Argo said with a slight blush at the sudden contact.

"If someone has something wrong against me touching my friend, then there's going to be an issue, and they can come to me about it," he said with a smile, suppressing his own blush. "You should expect only weak mobs. We're both pretty high level, so it shouldn't be much of a challenge. That probably isn't going to change soon."

The two continued walking on, taking in the beautiful scenery of a calm and gentle forest. They came across the occasional hostile mob, be it a wolf or a bear, or whatever it was, was quickly dealt with.

They enjoyed each other's company, but neither of them would likely admit that openly. It was… Confusing. Argo understood human emotion, but couldn't put her finger on what she was feeling just yet. It had never crossed her mind that she might be in love with her fellow beta tester. They had never met in real life, so it didn't seem possible.

Kirito on the other hand, had lost most emotion when he had pushed away his little sister. The revelation that they weren't actually related by blood, triggered something in him, making him feel unwelcome in the family.

Sure, he could recognize and acknowledge fear, happiness, sadness, and most basic human emotion, but when it came to affection, he couldn't. It seemed that Argo would have to teach him whenever she realized her own feelings for the boy.

For now though, the two would always have this odd sensation that tugged at the back of their minds, constantly making them feel joy or embarrassment at being together.

"Argo, I think that's the dungeon," Kirito said as he pointed to a large, overgrown structure that closely resembled a castle. It had vines and moss all over, and looked like something out of a fantasy book. Well, they were in a game, so it didn't really surprise them.

"Well, I hope you're ready! It's gonna be fun going through the place, since we're high level and can one hit pretty much anything. I've never played a game where I've been one of the best players in it."

"And I've never played a game in which dying in it meant death in the real world. Now, how about we get in their and tear the place apart?" Kirito said as he let go of Argo, and walked into the dungeon.

She soon caught up with him, and the two… Well, they quite literally tore through the mobs. High level blades do quite the number on low level mobs.

The duo were slicing through the mobs like butter. They weren't getting much XP, but the col was a lot considering they were only on the third floor, and as such, didn't have much of it.

"You'd think that the mobs would learn eventually, eh, Kirito?"

"Well, in their defense, they all have simple commands that make them attack players whenever they see you."

"Yeah, but still… You would've thought that the creator would have made more self aware things when planning to turn the place into a death game…"

"Don't give him any ideas like that! For all we know he could be watching us. Not that it really matters though… The only bad thing that could really happen, is if a boss from floor 30 or something makes its way down to the lower floors. The chances of that happening though, are slim to none."

"Oh, I got a pm from one of my contacts… Says there's been some shady stuff going on with some of the players. He suspects that they're up to no good. We can check that later, though. We've got things to be doing right now."

"Wait, shit, is that the boss room? Now that a I think about it, we've gotten pretty far into this dungeon, so I wouldn't be surprised if that's the boss room."

"This would've sounded stupid if we were lower level, but do you wanna check the place out? Nothing to major, because we need to take the boss as a group so that more people get XP."

"Well, it doesn't hurt to just look arou- no wait it does when we're in this so called game…"

Kirito slowly pushed the door, and when they entered, they were met with what looked like… A… Dragon?

The area that was the boss room looked much like the exterior. In other words, it was overgrown, and was made primarily of stone. All in all, it looked like what you'd think a castle from the Middle Ages would look like today.

It was beautiful.

The dragon was large and mainly black with accents of blue that adorned it's wings, parts of its body, and some of its head. It was slim, and looked… Surprisingly not too menacing. You'd think that a floor boss would be at least intimidating to discourage some players. This wasn't the case. It almost looked harmless.

As if to deceive.

They soon realized that this was exactly what the floor boss was meant to do. For all they knew, it's razor sharp talons could be imbued with a poison that even they might not be able to handle.

They hoped to whatever ethereal being was watching over them, that it wasn't.

They slowly backed off as to not alert the boss, and they made their way out of the dungeon, looking at their maps to see all the information that they had gotten.

They had explored 75% of the dungeon including the boss room.

Well, why not search that last 25% of the dungeon? No reason not to.

What they found, was what seemed to be a large courtyard. In it, was a chest. Also in it, were a large number of mobs that, although were low level, would still prove to be dangerous due to the sheer number of them.

Deciding to try and play it smart, Kirito pulled out a throwing pick.

He hit one, and all hell broke loose.

Who would've known that by alerting one of those zombie looking things, they'd attract every single one? Huh… Guess they work like a hive mind. Oh well.

With a slash of his Elemental Fury he sent a wave of fire that… Shit they're all dead. Huh.

He looked at Argo with an unamused expression, causing the girl to simple stick her tongue out at him since he reacted too slowly to them, and she got them with her own wave attack with her claws.

"Come on, let's go check out what's in the chest," Kirito said as he moved towards it. With his detection skill though, he saw that the chest was trapped and if he activated it, he would have to deal with a few decently leveled mobs, if the trapdoors in the walls around said anything.

"Eh, fuck it I'll bite," he said before opening the chest, and obtaining a blade with the name of "Raze-Lighter" which was another fire elemental sword. The only thing is that when equipped, the blade granted a special uppercut that did major damage when it hit. Not to mention the thing had 302 attack.

Quickly equipping it, he saw the trapdoors pop out, and level 20 mobs come through. If it were any other player, they would've been doomed. Not this guy. The blade sliced through them like they were nothing, and the duo quickly made their way out of the dungeon.

No point in sticking around now that the dungeon was 100% searched. They just needed to spread the map info, and everyone would be set to raid in about a week.

Why a week? Well, some people liked to venture throughout the floor to see if they could find any sort of secrets for that floor. For all they knew, there could possibly be a secret area that contained a decent drop.

They didn't want to take chances of not picking it up, so a decent amount of players were searching about.

Looking at the time, Kirito saw that it was getting late. 20:35.

"Hey, we should get back before it gets dark. If anything your contact said was true, it isn't a good idea to be outside at night."

"Yeah, good point. Who knows what goes on when it's dark out."

The two traversed through the decently sized forest in a peaceful walk. No mobs were present due to other players that walked by them, and they took about a minute to spawn. Thankfully, lots of players were now nearing them, with some passing, so there wasn't really much to do other than walk.

They came across the fifth town out of the six on the floor. It was a pleasantly urban area with lots of buildings that could be player homes, NPC shops, player shops, blacksmith shops, and a lot more.

They grabbed a room with a single bed seeing as how they didn't think anything was wrong with it, and the two laid down, Kirito with his arm over her in a protective manner.

Not that she needed it, but she liked it. It made her feel cared for in this hell of a world.

She smiled before sighing, and found peace in the form of sleep.

 **|December, 8th, 2022|Town 5| Main Plaza|Boss Meeting**

"Alright, once again, we've gotten info on the boss courtesy of Kirito and Argo. The boss is a dragon. Hard to miss it, if you do, you should consider getting your eyes checked as soon as we get out of this damn game. All jokes aside, we have no info on this boss because this was changed from the beta. From what Kirito and Argo saw, the boss room has protection in case anyone gets down. There are stone pillars that people can hide by in case their health gets too low so that they can either use a health crystal, or use a potion. This is going to be an extremely dangerous fight because we don't know what we're getting ourselves into."

"We'll head out tomorrow. Hopefully, no one gets hurt during this. If Kirito's new blade can do what it did to last floor's boss, this shouldn't be a problem. Now, I wish you all good luck, and consider this meeting adjourned."

With that, most of the players dispersed to do whatever they did in their free time.

"So, it's only 12:00. What do you wanna do?" Kirito asked the whiskered girl.

"Well, there really isn't anything _to do_. We've been getting majorly reduced XP, and we have a lot of Col from the dungeon. Sure, we could help other players, but to be honest with you, I don't think a lot of people like to be carried. This is an MMORPG, and some rules still apply despite being VR. It's boring having someone else do all the work especially when you control what you do."

"So what do you suggest we do?"

"Well, I've gotta meet with one of my contacts. He says he's learned of some… Troubling things. You wanna go? He's not very social, but he's a nice guy."

"I don't see why not… Let's go meet this contact of yours," Kirito said with a shrug.

"He said to meet him on floor 1, town 3. He said come whenever, so while we have nothing to do, we'll go there now."

The two used the floor's teleport stone in the center of town, and made their way towards the third town.

Nothing eventful happened as the two walked, probably because they're on the first floor. Pretty much nothing could touch them.

When they arrived, they were met with a black haired boy with a hairstyle similar to Kirito, but shorter.

"Player name Kirito, play style one handed long sword, alias The Black Swordsman, high detection, high strength, good agility, high vitality stats. Nice to meet you, the name's Arc," The boy introduced himself with a handshake.

He was 14 like both Kirito and Argo, and he seemed to radiate an aura of guard. Being an info gatherer was a dangerous job at times, and so, he had a high agility stat, high sneak stat, and high detection stat. In times where he couldn't run away, he had a decent strength stat and a dagger in case he got into trouble.

"Um… How exactly do you know my stats and stuff?"

"I have my ways…"

"Arc, why'd you call me here?"

"Ah, right… I've found a small organization of player killers. They call themselves Laughing Coffin. I had to fight my way out of their damn headquarters. They're dangerous. Real dangerous. I paralyzed one of them with a throwing pick, and had to run like hell out of there. They were relentless though, since they know I got some information regarding them, and wanted me gone."

"A guild of PKers? Well then… This isn't good. I wouldn't be surprised if there are more, really."

"Well good thing, because there are more. I have some info, but it's not much. A guild called Titan's Nose. They have one green player that lures players, and others that attack. They've only done this to three people so far, and each time at least one of the players they target has died. Laughing Coffin haven't done anything major. They're probably waiting for higher level so that they have better gear and stats to effectively kill people, if that doesn't sound too bad."

"So what do we do about them?"

"I know, this won't sound good, but we have to kill them eventually. You might think they're human, but humans don't kill one another without reason."

"That's about all I have to say. Nothing else happened that's worth mentioning. Take care you two. I've gotta get going now Cyn'll be expecting me to be home soon, so I'll see you later," he said before pulling out a teleport crystal and teleporting to the second floor.

"Cyn?"

"It's short for Cynthia. His friend from the real world. They were both in the beta test, so they figured they'd team up again when the game released. It's just the two of em. Cynthia's a."

"Oh… So what're we gonna do about these guilds? We can't just leave them running around especially when people are getting killed."

"I know how much it hurts you, Kirito, but we can't do anything about them just yet. Titan's Nose maybe, but there isn't solid evidence of Laughing Coffin, and if we take action against them, we'll probably be accused of being the bad guys."

"Ok…" Kirito said with a sigh.

"Let's get home and get some rest. We've got an unknown boss to fight tomorrow."

The two teleported back to the third floor where their inn was.

And as repetitive as it may seem, they slept together, Kirito with an arm over the girl.

 **December, 9th, 2022|Outside Boss Room|11:30**

"I hope you're all ready. We go into this boss fight practically blind, so everyone should be careful and wary of their surroundings. Keep an eye on your health bar. Now, let's do this, people!" Diabel said before leading the entrance to the room, with Kirito and Argo close behind him.

They were arranged in a way that went Leader, followed by player level highest to lowest.

What type of leader would someone be if they weren't leading the attack?

The dragon opened it's eyes as the players streamed in. It's gaze however, was fixed on Kirito. It knew he was strong. It respected his strength, despite being AI.

But perhaps it was… evolving, in a way. Breaking free from the limits of this VR world. Making itself something… different.

When Kirito struck the majestic reptile with his blade, something unexpected happened. The blade not only blew the dragon stumbling back. It also allowed the dragon to get rid of the harness that the Cardinal System had placed on it.

In other words, the dragon now had control of itself.

And what it wanted, was a strong yet caring master.

What it wanted, was right in front of it, in the form of a black haired teenager.

Everyone around could see as the "boss" shrunk in size. It slowly moved forward, getting a defensive reaction from everyone.

Kirito, however, understood it.

In a very unexpected turn of events, Kirito was close enough to the dragon to elicit reactions from everyone telling him to get away.

He didn't listen.

He stuck his hand out.

The once huge dragon, now the size of an ordinary house cat, stuck it's head out.

The two met, and a bond was formed.

On this day, December 8th, 2022, Kirito would find himself a very unlikely ally in the form of a former floor boss.

Everyone stared in awe at the sight.

Kirito now had the dragon in his hands. It was practically purring into his hand as a "Congratulations" message popped up, signaling the completion of the floor.

The dragon flew to his shoulder where it perched as he walked up the steps to activate the fourth floor teleport stone, and the corridor crystal for the clearers.

Everyone was surprised. Even Argo. She soon snapped out of it however, and made her way towards him.

"Do you…"

"No, I don't understand what's going on. I understood that it wanted something though, so I gave it to her.

"Her?"

"Yes, the dragon is a female. You can tell by the slim figure, the marks on the wings, and the fur on the stomach. It's to keep any eggs warm, and as such, a male dragon wouldn't need to do that."

"Got any names in mind?"

"No, not really."

"How about you name her after something you care about?"

"You?"

"M-me?"

"How about Yuu the dragon?"

"W-well, there's nothing wrong with that… But how does she feel about it?"

"How's Yuu for a name?" Kirito asked while looking at the dragon still perched on his shoulder. To his enjoyment and both his and Argo's surprise, he dragon licked him.

"Hm, I'll take that as a yes," Kirito said before looking back at Argo.

"Shall we?" He asked with a hand out.

She took it, and said "let's," as the two walked through the corridor crystal, and were met with a colorful town.

[Welcome to floor four]

 **AN: Alright, it's been a while since I updated. Combination of writer's block, laziness, and video games can explain everything.**

 **I hope the ending didn't seem too rushed.**

 **How do you like the idea of Kirito having a dragon familiar? I like it… But then again, this is my story so I'm obligated to like it.**

 **Man, I have an idea for a harem story that would actually work, but I don't know if I should put it into action or focus on this story. Suggestions?**

 **Leave reviews or something… I like reviews...**


	5. Chapter 5

_Blade and Broker_

 _I teased him about it, but it never really meant anything at the time… I guess he's the reason I feel all warm inside... KiritoXArgo. SAO retold from the beginning._

 **AN: So um, chapter five. Fun. I don't know what to say here.**

 **Stuff.**

 **Chapter 5 - Floor 4**

"Kirito, get your hand off my ass…" Argo said half asleep.

"The hell? Tell that to Yuu, not me."

"That's not even proper gram- oh, the dragon… Man, why's she gotta sleep on me?"

"Maybe she likes you? She's seemed fond of you ever since we got to this floor."

"Now how the hell can you tell that?" Argo asked with a yawn as she slightly shifted her body to look at the small reptilian familiar.

It was on her (Argo's) side, wings tucked in, enclosing the small thing in a blanket of warmth.

It was cute, really. One would've never thought that the familiar was a floor boss.

The only ones that knew, were the ones that participated in the raid. They all agreed to keep it to themselves, thinking that Kirito might not want the others to know in fear of them accusing the dragon familiar.

It was a floor boss, after all.

She gently picked the female dragon up, placing her on the pillow. She laid her head back down, and went back to sleep.

She was awoken a couple hours later by the dragon, who had her wings spread out over her head.

She was making a noise that resembled purring, but Argo out ruled that considering it was a dragon. It was rubbing its head against her, trying to get her to wake up.

"Yuu… What do you want?" Argo said with a yawn as she sat up and stretched. To her left was Kirito, still in bed, managing his inventory.

"Kirito… What does she want?" Argo half whined.

"Probably just some attention. Anything really," he said while swiping through his menus.

"Is that true, Yuu? C'mere then, I don't mind playing with you for a bit," Argo said to the dragon familiar that was at her feet.

It came bounding towards her, and she caught it in her arms, cradling the female dragon as if it were a child.

The dragoness showed her happy state, by mewling, and gently biting down on Argo's finger, hard enough for her to feel the pressure, but soft enough that it wouldn't hurt.

"You sure are something else, aren't you, Yuu?" Argo said with a smile before running her hand along the dragon's top, making her purr in contentment.

"So, Kirito, what do we plan on doing today?" Argo asked, still playing with the dragon.

"Well, we could scout out the place. Other than that, we don't have much to do. Now that I think about it, I wonder how I normally spent my time in mmorpgs. This has been incredibly boring considering how I went to level 26 like it was nothing, and now my XP gain is significantly reduced."

"Yeah, I understand that considering I'm level 20, but- Oh, Arc PMed me. He says to come whenever. Talk about Laughing Coffin. You wanna go now, or do you want to scout out the dungeon first?"

"Well, if it's about a PK guild, it'd probably be more helpful to deal with them first. If we scout the place and travel the towns, there's a risk of running into them while we run around. I mean, I doubt that they'll be that challenging considering our level, but if there's more than 6, we're gonna have a problem."

"Yeah, I guess. Better safe than sorry."

Arc was once again down on the first floor at the same town. They met up with him after about an hour as they ate and did everything they needed to before heading out.

When they got there, they were greeted by both Arc, and his friend Cynthia.

"Arc, Cyn, nice to see you two still alive. What's the deal with Laughing Coffin?"

Cynthia was a cute, slim girl with dark purple hair **(Think hex maniac)**. She had a cloak on **(If you've ever seen Philia from one of the games, I'm talking about that. Just add a hood)** and she had daggers strapped to her sides.

Her nickname "Cyn" also doubled as what her fight style was. In some MMO's, Assassins are shortened down to just "Sin", and as such, her name matched well. **(It was at this moment I went to check last chapter and realized I fucked up and didn't finish a sentence. I meant to make her a clearer, but that didn't exactly go to plan… just go with it…)**

"Well, it turns out that they've got a lot of members. Around twenty right now. Now, normally I wouldn't say this is a lot, but remember that we're talking about player killers here. They have to be strong in order to get into that guild. I overheard that they might try something soon, so be wary of that if you plan on doing something at night. Well, your nightly _activities_ don't really concern me, so…"

"We aren't a thing, alright!" Argo yelled with a blush. Despite her own teasing personality she surprisingly couldn't handle being teased.

"Oh, I never said you were a thing. It's just the stress of the job and being stuck here might be a bit much you know," He said in a sing song voice.

"Arc, stop teasing her," Cynthia said with a playful slap on the arm.

"How about you two? The same rule applies you know, and I know for a fact that you two travel and live together," Argo said while crossing her arms, realizing she had a way to get back at him for teasing her.

The effect was near immediate. Neither of them could handle teasing very well and both of them knew it.

"Alright you stop that… Just because Cyn and I live together doesn't mean-"

"Yeah yeah yeah, alright. You can say that all you want but you aren't fooling me. Anyway, we'll be going now. You two have… Well, _fun_ , while we're away, alright?"

Before he could respond or make up something else, Argo grabbed Kirito and practically dragged him out of there.

"Now then, how about we get out of here? Like, now."

The two teleported back to the fourth floor where they soon walked down the exit leading out of the first town.

Anything that crossed them, they easily deflected and sliced. When they made it to the next town, they realized that they had a good amount of people watching them as they took on mob after mob. They were all just gathered up behind them wanting an easy passage to the next town to either set up shop, or look around.

Sure, most people were high level, but sometimes, watching other people destroy mobs can be entertaining. Especially when they get one shot, go flying in another direction, only to blow up into a bunch of fragments.

"Huh… Guess we were a bit absorbed in taking down mobs and talking, that we didn't notice the people following us…" Kirito said with a hand on his chin. It soon changed to a shrug, followed by the words "Oh well."

They went on their way, people still following them, and cleared paths to each town. People behind them talked amongst themselves, or watched them easily take down any mob that dared to attack them.

Coming across the sixth and final town, they passed it and saw a junkyard.

"That's it right there? It looks kinda different from the beta."

"Yep. That's the boss room. Kayaba changed some stuff around, which we already know because of the second and third floors. It seems bigger if anything. The entrance looks the same, but we can't guarantee that, so try to be on guard. I know they're low level, but we talked about this before. Strength in numbers applies in this game, like any other mmo."

"Well then, Argo, why don't we go in and give these mobs a little surprise?" Kirito asked with his hand out.

"Well, we've got nothing better to do, so why not?" She replied before grabbing his hand and letting him lead her through the entrance of the dungeon.

They came across old robots, steampunk styled robots while in the junkyard. They came in packs of at least 5, and came in three forms.

One was a flying type that cut players up with a bottom rotor with a razor sharp blade on it.

The second was a small, scorpion like machine with a sharp spike as the stinger.

The last was a four legged, and chased after things like a large predatory cat.

Despite how little health they had compared to the clearers, the mobs were a danger in numbers.

Those numbers were building the farther they went into the dungeon.

Groups of 7 scorpion like, 5 flying types, and 10 four legged mobs became the norm, and the two were on constant alert.

"You know, I can't wait to get to the next floor, because these damn robot shits are getting oil everywhere… Actually, no, if the next floor is the same as in the beta, then it's the permanently nighttime floor, and the only thing we can use to get around is moonlight. Of course, the buildings and stuff should have their own lights, but other than that, there are no outside lights…"

"Not to mention, assassin guilds tend to work at night, so that floor will be the perfect one for this 'Laughing Coffin' to make their first move. Not really looking forward to that."

"Yeah, no kidding. Who knows what a legit pk guild could do from what Arc has told us."

The two continued on until they came across the boss room. It was a factory looking building, and the door had all sorts of gears and chains. It truly fit with the dungeon's steampunk feel.

They opened the door, and what they saw was a large, mechanical golem looking thing. It was hollow for the most part, and in the center laid a purple glowing jewel.

On the hands were two claw like weapons, which from their distance, they could tell was razor sharp.

It stood at maybe 20 feet, and loomed over ominously, despite the bright coloring that the factory setting had. It stood in the center of the room, lightning pillars at each corner of the octagon which was the boss room.

"If I recall correctly, that fucker's name is Core, right? I remember, in the beta it took us a decent amount of time just to get past this dude. I'm confident in our ability though, so it shouldn't be that much of a deal," Kirito told Argo as they backed out of the boss room to report back into town about it.

"Yeah, Metal Core, the protector of the Haven War Factory. That's what the dungeon was called."

"The purple crystal in the middle. That's what powers it?"

"Yeah. If we can destroy that, we can end the boss quickly. I doubt it though. Even with our higher tier weapons, you guys during the beta took maybe three days to finally complete it. It's a lot if you actually think about it."

"I know it's asking for a lot, but I really don't want any casualties. So far, the only ones have been from pks, traps, and suicide…"

"Some people can't handle the stress of being stuck, and just snap. You can't save everyone, Kirito. I'm sorry, but that's just reality. Well, this screwed up reality at least."

"I hope we make it through this, Argo. I really do. I miss them, and I'm more than sure that you do too."

"I miss her, Kirito… Reina… She means a lot more than I realize… I have to stay strong… For everyone's sake," Argo said as she began reminiscing in the memories of her older sister.

Reina was a sophomore in college at the time, in school to get a degree in Pharmacology. She was to come home soon after the Sao release for a small vacation, and Argo had told Kirito that she wouldn't be on as she would be spending time with her sister.

Well, nothing really went to plan, did it?

She did come home, but more urgent, than excited. Actually, she wasn't excited at all. She was afraid. Afraid of the situation her dear little sister was in.

She knew that her little sister gamed, but wasn't entirely concerned about who she played with. She knew that she was smart, and would tell either her, or her parents if anything over the top came up. She was a mature girl, so naturally, the older sister trusted her.

They were close siblings, being born 6 years apart, Reina tended to look after her for a good amount of time. They did a lot together, and Reina would always supporting her little sister whenever she needed anything.

Whether it be academics or social problems, Argo could always count on her older sister to help her.

Argo knew about the distance with Kirito and his family. He had told her how he was adopted by his aunt after his parents died. He told her about how he distanced himself from his sister after finding out they weren't related.

She knew though, that he still loved his current family.

"C'mon, Argo. Let's get out of here," Kirito said to the sniffling girl, before picking her up, and walking towards the town. The sun was setting, and all around them, lie the dead machines that they had destroyed. They were burning, and as the sun was setting, proved to be helpful in the case that they provided both light, and very nice scenery.

 **A Week Later, Floor 4, Boss Room**

Kirito grunted as he slammed into the boss with full force, a spare sword in hand as he went in for the boss's purple center crystal.

"Damn, this guy's tough…" he said as he let go of the blade, kicking off the boss with a backflip, before equipping another one of his spare swords.

As he equipped, other players came out to block attacks, and distract the boss so that Kirito could set up for another hit on the large thing.

"Alright, I'm good! Get out of there!" He yelled as he charged the boss with a two handed claymore, ready to run the thing into it.

He got within ten feet, before the boss changed its attack pattern, stomping the floor, and nearly sending Kirito flying.

Everyone shielded their eyes as the debris came flying throughout from the shockwave of the slam, and soon realized that with a changed attack pattern, the boss was completely unpredictable.

They needed to do something, and quick. Anyone with a shield raised it, while swords were at the ready, able to stab anything at a moment's notice.

When the dust cleared, a blue orb was dropped in the middle of the field.

"Someone hit that thing with a stagger skill! If it completes its charge, it'll heal the damn boss about 15 percent!" Kirito yelled as he rushed back at the boss to keep it distracted.

It was at around 10% hp at the moment, and a 15% heal would increase their time spent here, thus making their chances of survival lower.

Nigh immediately, Asuna shot forth, delivering a heavy blow with her rapier, effectively stopping the cast, but inadvertently causing a large wave that knocked almost everyone to the ground.

This however was enough that even the boss was sent to the ground, allowing Kirito to get one more sword into the thing as it got up.

Everyone came back up to cover Kirito as he equipped another sword. His last one. He didn't think he'd have to, but Raze-Lighter was brought out to finish the job on the boss.

It burnt wildly as he charged up a strike that would knock the boss back, swinging the sword with a golden afterimage as it cut through the air making contact with Core's clawed arm as it came down on them.

He then sprinted head on towards the boss, fully intent on driving his sword through the thing.

With a nearly inhuman yell, he jumped at a speed near impossible, and flew into the boss, not only stabbing straight through the purple core, but also knocking the boss down in the process, followed by the boss shattering into shards.

His sword however, didn't fare well either. It had broken upon impact, and Kirito was left swordless. Only when he got the pop up for last attack bonus, did he realize not all was lost.

Last Attack Bonus: Peacemaker

What he equipped, was an elegant black and purple sword, that had an aura of blue. The handle was big enough for two handed, but with Kirito's strength stat, he was able to wield it one handed, like every other sword he's used. The blade was 5 inches wide, and three feet long. Overall, the blade was beautiful.

"Well, this is something else. Unique drop. Levels with me, and has no level cap… interesting to say the least," Kirito said as he held out the blade.

"That was a good fight, guys! Now, I'll warn you that this next floor, if it's anything like the beta, will not turn to day. The floor is night time only, so I suggest you stay in groups as there's been a lot of shady activity going on, if an info broker I'm in contact with other than Argo, has anything to say."

Everyone understood what he was saying. So far, because if his sheer strength and leadership, there hadn't been a casualty at a single boss raid. Everyone trusted everyone, and they all knew that they could rely on anyone for support.

"Give 'em hell, people! I'll see you at the next floor!" Kirito said before holding his hand out for Argo to take, and bringing them up the steps to the corridor crystal.

 **The Real World**

What they didn't know however, was that the game was actually being streamed. Their family members knew what was happening, and they all knew about this "Kirito" that was clearing the game, and supporting their children, friends, family.

In the real world, Kazuto and **(I'm going to be using her voice actress' name for her actual name. Idea from the fic "One Punch Gamer" which I've mentioned before)** Shiori's family had actually met up, seeing as how their son and daughter had made quite the team. They would regularly be over each other's house to watch their children as they took the game head on.

They knew about what their relationship was coming to, and quite frankly, they had no problems with it.

Reina had been home from college and the families had been watching when the two talked about them. More specifically, when Argo had said that she meant a lot to her.

' _Come back safe, you two,'_ she thought to herself, her hands balled up over her heart, ' _Everyone misses you…'_

 **AN: So um, it's been a while. I guess.**

 **I'm probably gonna write next chapter then start another Sao fic, but um, I don't know.**

 **Cool beans.**


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